Variety's Scores

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For 17,791 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 52% higher than the average critic
  • 4% same as the average critic
  • 44% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 2.4 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Movie review score: 63
Highest review score: 100 IMAX: Hubble 3D
Lowest review score: 0 Divorce: The Musical
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9,139 out of 17791
  2. Mixed: 7,015 out of 17791
  3. Negative: 1,637 out of 17791
17791 movie reviews
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  1. Amen.
    Despite fine performances and the care lavished on the production, Amen. is never as emotionally powerful as it should be.
  2. In the Mirror of Maya Deren
    This well researched, detailed examination of the life and work of the legendary avant-garde filmmaker, writer and dancer, Maya Deren, should provoke renewed interest in her -- she emerges as a beautiful, willful, wayward talent with an exceptional vision and a great love for life and for the avant-garde world.
  3. Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin
    Using archival material and fresh interviews — including testimonials from at least two of his former lovers — Kates and Singer underscore Rustin’s matter-of-fact courage and self-effacing pragmatism.
  4. Da wan
    Pic is an obvious but highly accessible entertainment that manages to josh its subjects without being condescending to either Eastern or Western auds.
  5. En kærlighedshistorie
    It often resembles John Cassavetes' "A Woman Under the Influence," but just as often devolves into a series of bravura acting exercises strung together by an increasingly sketchy narrative theme.
  6. Divine Intervention
    Always imaginative, often arresting, but sometimes just too clever by half.
  7. P.S. Your Cat Is Dead!
    Lacking the knockout lead perfs or more whimsical tone that might have transcended script's dubious logic, pic comes off as a so-so theatrical stunt delivered via the wrong medium.
  8. A Guy Thing
    Does get slightly better as it goes along.
  9. National Security
    Comes off as a retro reprise of those slam-bang, buddy-buddy action-comedies that proliferated throughout the '80s in the wake of "48 HRS."
  10. Kangaroo Jack
    For auds unwilling or unable to grapple with the subtle nuances of "Scooby Doo," Warners now gives us Kangaroo Jack, a shrill and silly farce.
  11. City of God
    The impressive filmmaking craftsmanship and sharp storytelling skills make this two-hour-plus epic fly by.
  12. Crimson Gold
    Succeeds as a universal account of frustration applicable to any urban center where the gap between haves and have-nots is tauntingly visible.
  13. Close, Closed, Closure
    Israeli filmmaker Loevy questions in voiceover whether one can ever really see the other's side, and the strain of this divide is felt in over-dramatic attempts to highlight individual victims.
  14. Just Married
    The filmmakers themselves betray a lack of knowledge about the Old World, while unfailingly repeating physical hijinks one time too many.
  15. The Slaughter Rule
    Strong performances, a few dramatically potent scenes and a vividly specific evocation of locale barely offset hackneyed and muddled elements in a script that plays like a first draft.
  16. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
    A powerful and creative film.
  17. Love Liza
    Todd Louiso's directorial debut emerges at once as compelling and as a bit of a specimen due to the entirely singular nature of the protagonist's behavior.
  18. Sonny
    Besides "Midnight Cowboy" and "American Gigolo," there aren't many mainstream movies centered on straight male prostitutes. Sonny is a worthy, if indie-style, addition to the list.
  19. Nicholas Nickleby
    A delightful experience.
  20. Max
    The film is ultimately too glib in its suggestion that Hitler's discovering his career path was a matter of sheerest chance, even an accident.
  21. The Hours
    Considerable intelligence and strategic finesse have been brought to bear on this handsomely mounted adaptation of Michael Cunningham's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, which was hardly a natural for the bigscreen.
  22. The Pianist
    Surprisingly lacks a feeling of personal urgency and insight that would have made it a distinctive, even unique contribution to the considerable number of films that deal with the war in general and Holocaust in particular.
  23. Chicago
    First-time feature director Rob Marshall and Oscar-winning "Gods and Monsters" screenwriter Bill Condon have spun the dark tale of two murdering floozies into a widely palatable entertainment, but the long-gestating film comes up short in rhythm and personality.
  24. Pinocchio
    The spirit of the late Federico Fellini -- with whom Benigni talked of doing the project together -- surfaces repeatedly. But that spirit fails to enliven a film substantially lacking in personality, energy, magic and humor.
  25. Catch Me If You Can
    Like a trot around the track for the thoroughbreds involved, and one of the results is that it takes them far too long to get to the finish line.
  26. The Wild Thornberrys Movie
    Balances intelligent humor, slapstick, Blighty reserve and Yank spunk along with environmentalism.
  27. Smokers Only
    A walk on the "dark side" that moves far more slowly than limited character insight requires.
  28. Thorns
    An involving, often kinetic 2½-hour ride for auds who can accept their entertainment overboiled as well as just hardboiled.
  29. Two Weeks Notice
    An affable but undernourished romantic comedy that fails to match the freshness of the actress-producer and writer's previous collaboration, "Miss Congeniality."
  30. Spider
    This slow but brilliantly sustained journey into madness is fronted by a remarkable performance from Ralph Fiennes and superb backup from Miranda Richardson in a triple role.
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